Sunday, 26 August 2012

Almond spice cake

This cake is so almondy and flavoursome it’s a
nut-lover’s dream. The almond in the
cake comes predominantly from the marzipan layer baked into the batter. I made the cake square and, whether pastry or
marzipan, I am totally unable to roll
things out into anything but circles.
Don’t panic if you’re the same – simply cut the curvy edges off and use
for patching!

The fudgy glaze sets to a crisp shell and adds
lovely texture and flavour. It was
hugely popular with my eatership and I will definitely use it again on future
cakes.

If you’re not mad on cinnamon, use another
spice of your choice – nutmeg or even ginger would work well; as would simply
increasing the mixed spice.

I had a couple of slices of the cake left over
(this should indicate that it’s a BIG cake!) so, on a subsequent evening,
gently warmed them in the oven and served with custard for dessert. Hardly a shocking newsflash but, guess what,
it really worked!

Start by making the marzipan: Place the almonds and both sugars into a
bowl and stir until combined. I did this in my Kitchenaid mixer.

Add the egg yolks and almond extract and mix until well combined.

Add a spoonful of the egg white and beat, continue to add tablespoonfuls
of egg white until the marzipan forms into a firm ball.

Roll the marzipan out to a 20cm square between two sheets of
clingfilm – this means you don’t have to
add any more icing sugar to it, plus peel off only one sheet of clingfilm when
you wish to position on the cake – you have far more control over it while the
clingfilm supports it (obviously put it face down on the cake i.e. so the
clingfilm is on top!)

Peel off the clingfilm.

Trim the marzipan to size then put to one side.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.

Place all the cake ingredients, except for the almonds, into
a large mixing bowl and beat together until smooth and well combined.

Fold in the almonds.

Spoon just over half the batter into the prepared tin and
level the surface.

Gently place the rolled marzipan onto the batter and smooth
it down if it’s crinkled or curled up anywhere.

Place the remaining batter on top of the marzipan and level
the surface.

Bake for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a
skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Leave to cool, in the tin, for 20-30 minutes before removing
the tin and leaving the cake to cool completely on a wire rack.

Now make the topping: heat the butter, sugar and cream in a
saucepan over a medium heat until they are blended – stir regularly.

Bring the mix to the boil then remove from the heat.

Place a sheet of foil or kitchen paper on your work top,
then stand the cake on a wire rack directly above the paper (to catch any
drips).

Hmm... thinking about stealing this recipe for an Iron Cupcake entry... tho will deffinately have to do a test-bake to see about timings. I think I could get away with chilling and grating the marzipan into the mix, rather than rolling out and cutting disks...

Also, Re the gelatine-set cheesecake from the other day. Have you tried using Vegi-gelatine? One of our IC Bakers is a vegi and complains that she can't taste cakes with jelly in them...

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About Me

So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

The purpose of my blog is simple – to spread the word that CAKE IS GOOD.Yes, it is calorific; that is why it tastes so nice.Yes, too much of it is bad for you; that’s what ‘too much’ means.Yes, we’re all told to eat healthily and we know that we should. But ask yourself this – and look very deeply into your soul before answering – when has a cup of tea and a carrot ever cheered you up? However, put that carrot into a cake and happiness will ensue. Quod erat demonstrandum – CAKE IS GOOD.

This site will catalogue cakes I have unleashed unto the world and my thoughts thereon.

By the way, I will never recommend how many portions you should get out of a cake because we’re all different. Plus, it will be very embarrassing when I say it serves 4 and you get 20 portions out of it.

WARNING: Too much time spent on this blog may cause hunger.

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About Me

I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
I spend far too much time watching Spongebob Squarepants and would love to try a Krabby Patty...I know, I know - it's not real.